Author's note: Eid is coming up next Monday, and I'll be busy with keeping the family and friends coming over company, so I'll be taking a break for 4-7 days. But I should have the first chapter of the new story ready to go by then, so look forward to that!
...
We all sat in silence in the Black Pearl's dining area, staring at Brook, leisurely picking his teeth after telling us his story and how he became the only survivor of the Rumbar Pirates.
Byron was the most affected by the story as it personally touched him. But even the usually stoic Bob was sending sympathetic looks towards the skeleton, not to mention the others, who finally realized the consequences of failure and defeat as pirates.
And with the shadow of our defeat on Alabsta, as we had to run with our tails between our legs, hanging over everyone's heads, Brook's story hit them even harder, especially people like Wilson, Bepo, Byron, and Elly, who were on the more easy-going side than the rest of us.
"Anything I say now won't change a thing, so I won't bother," I said, turning to Brook while shaking my head. "However, you don't have to suffer on your own in this place anymore," I added, waving a hand to the side.
"Your friend Crocus sent here to look for you... and Byron here, well..." I remarked with a sigh, smacking Byron on the shoulder to snap him out of his daze.
"Maybe it's better you hear it from him rather than me," I added, smacking the blonde musician's shoulder again and sending him an encouraging look.
"I'm from Toroa island in West Blue, and Yorki is my grandfather..." Byron said after a momentary hesitation as he turned to face the skeleton.
"Eh? The captain's? So he did make it back home after all!" Brook exclaimed, his joy audible in his tone as he stood up and ran towards Byron quickly, trying to give him a bony hug.
"He didn't make it..." Byron replied in a complicated tone, much to Brook's shock, as he released the former from the hug, giving him a confused look.
"Yorki had a child he didn't know about before leaving Toroa island... my father..." Byron added, shaking his head as he sighed.
"I see..." Brook muttered, looking down in disappointment. "But at least he left behind a great-grandson like you... and it looks like you take after him in more than one way," he added, resuming his cheerful tone as he looked at Byron's hands, noticing the scarring from the many musical instruments Byron played.
"I'm sure Yorki would have talked my ears off proudly speaking about you if he knew he had a grandson.." Brook remarked, putting a bony hand on Byron's shoulder. "Even though I'm a skeleton and have no ears to speak of- yohohohoho," he added, laughing loudly, to which Byron smiled, albeit bitterly.
"So old Crocus is still alive, eh?..." Brook said, letting go of Byron's shoulder as he turned to me. "What about Laboon? Is he still...?" he hesitantly asked, seemingly dreading the answer.
"They're both in good health, and Laboon had already grown up enough to black the reverse mountain stream," I replied, smiling as I nodded at Brook.
"That's good to hear. But I'm afraid you can't help me..." Brook said after heaving a sigh of relief after hearing both Laboon and Crocus were in good health.
"You already know I can't leave the Florian triangle as long as Moria has my shadow. He is a powerful pirate, and you guys shouldn't get in his way," he added, shaking his head.
"It wouldn't matter either way. We intend to rob Moria since we're here anyway, and getting your shadow back while we're at it shouldn't prove too much trouble," I replied with a smile, shrugging my shoulders.
"Eh? You should reconsider! Moria is really scary, and his wondering ghost island is full of monsters, you know?!" Brook exclaimed, a horrified expression on his bony face as he held his cheekbones.
"I can be quite scary when I need to as well..." I said, shrugging my shoulders with a smile. "And I've got a crew full of monsters myself," I added, gesturing towards my crewmates.
"Besides... it's already too late to back away now. We're already inside the Thriller Bark, it seems," I added as my cyber-enhanced picked up the sound of groaning metal, signifying the arrival of the wondering island as it swallowed the black pearl and closed its iron jaws shut.
Sure enough, we rushed to the upper deck and immediately noticed the giant, white sails with the words Thriller Bark on them on the left and right, with one black sail holding Moria's jolly roger in the middle in front of us.
"They're already here..." Brook muttered as he watched the yellow metallic walls surrounding the Black Pearl and the gigantic set of teeth closed shut behind the ship.
"Please stay here and don't go inside the island," Brook said as he turned to me with an urging tone. "I will go and open the gates from the inside, so stay safe until then and leave immediately when the gates open," he concluded, jumping into the water and running on its surface towards the island without letting anyone say anything.
"Should I go get him?" Byron hesitantly asked as he watched Brook speed over the water's surface towards the dark foggy island.
"Let him be. He'll be alright. They can't kill him because they need his shadow," I replied, shaking my hand as I turned to Byron. "That said, you and Kozue go after him. Help him if necessary," I added, getting a nod from the blonde musician as he turned into his hybrid form, Kozue holding on to his hand as he flew behind Brook.
"I already explained everything to expect on this island while we were searching for Brook," I remarked as I turned to my crewmates. "You guys can stay here or go out. It's up to you," I added as I turned to look at the island.
"I'm going to look for Moria," I concluded as I jumped off the ship, flying towards the center of the wondering island.
...
"I'm staying on the ship," Bob said, twirling his mustache as he watched Johnny's figure shrinking as the latter flew towards the island.
"That Moria guy seemed like the only strong guy here, and Johnny already called dibs... the selfish bastard..." Wilson remarked, clicking his tone in annoyance. "So I'll stay here too," he added with a shrug.
"I'm interested in meeting Hogback," Doc Q said, patting Stronger's mane as he climbed on its back. "I heard he's quite the genius doctor, so I'd like to compare notes," he added, smiling in expectation.
"I'll come along too," Law said as he approached Doc. "I want to see what kind of research Hogback has been doing to justify turning so many people into such monstrosities," he flatly added, a dead expression on his face, but he failed to hide his anger.
"I want to come too-" Bepo added, shouting in alarm as Doc picked him up by the scruff of his neck and placed him on Stronger's back in front of him.
"Let's get going then," Doc said, smirking as Stronger began moving without any input from him as it jumped into the air and flew into the air with Geppo.
Law looked at this scene with twitching eyes, the others sharing his expression as Doc hadn't told anyone he was teaching Stronger Geppo, taking everyone by surprise with his display.
However, Law sighed, despite feeling the urge to make a sarcastic comment of some sort, shaking his head as he jumped into the air, following behind Doc and his horse.
"Well, that's that, I suppose," Laffite said, chuckling as he shook his head in amusement. "But the captain did say he wanted to rob Moria, so I'll go and find where he keeps his treasure," he added, turning to Elvis and Domino to give them a questioning look.
"I'm interested in how Moria turned this ship into an island, so take me with you," Elvis said, smiling at Laffite. "But you can drop me off at the shore. I can take a look myself," he added, climbing into Laffite's cloud.
"You heard the Gorilla, the captain got dibs on the strong guy, so I'm staying too," Domino said with a shrug, answering the unasked question as Elvis and Laffite turned to her.
"Suite yourself. We'll be off then," Laffite said, nodding as the cloud flew towards the island.